A Tarrant County judge has ruled that the man accused of killing a Fort Worth delivery driver with a piece of firewood is not guilty by reason of insanity, following agreement from both prosecutors and defense attorneys based on a mental health evaluation.

Christantus Omondi was found not guilty after the court accepted a report determining he was legally insane at the time of the January 2024 attack.

As a result of the ruling, Omondi is expected to be transferred to a state hospital rather than sentenced to prison.

Omondi had been charged with murder in the death of 51-year-old Scotty Jackson, a delivery driver who was attacked while delivering firewood to a home in Fort Worth.

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The incident occurred as Jackson was unloading wood with the homeowner.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the situation escalated when a man later identified as Omondi approached the property while naked.

The homeowner described the encounter to police.

"This naked man is three inches from my face, holding a key up to me yelling at me that I was on his property. He never wants to see me again. I should leave," the homeowner said.

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He added, "Scott then replied, ‘No, this is his property and his house. Just let us unload firewood because it’s cold outside.’"

The homeowner told investigators that Omondi then pushed him and began attacking Jackson with a piece of firewood.

After initially chasing the homeowner back into the house, Omondi returned to Jackson and continued the assault.

Police said Jackson was beaten to death at the scene.

Investigators noted that witness statements and video surveillance were consistent with the homeowner’s account of what occurred.

Following the attack, Omondi returned to a nearby Airbnb where he had been staying.

According to the affidavit, he allegedly attempted to assault another tenant at the property before officers arrived.

When police responded, they described Omondi as still being naked and behaving in a manner that was “non-compliant and aggressive” during his arrest.

The court’s decision was based on a mental evaluation that both the defense and prosecution accepted, concluding that Omondi did not understand the difference between right and wrong at the time of the attack.

Legal experts say that such a finding does not result in a typical acquittal but instead leads to placement in a mental health facility.

Attorney Russell Wilson, who is not involved in the case, explained the legal standard for such rulings.

“It's not the violence and the erraticism of the act, because certainly, we've seen murders occur by people that were not insane,” Wilson said.

He added, “It really turns on understanding the difference between the right and wrong.”

The ruling has drawn a strong reaction from the victim’s family.

Kasey DeLeon, Jackson’s daughter, spoke about the emotional impact of the case and the outcome.

"I catch myself crying every single time, just because I was a daddy's girl," DeLeon said.

She also expressed frustration with the verdict. "I'm angry. I feel like it's not fair, like at the end of the day, whether he was sane or not, his hands still have blood on them," DeLeon said.

Under Texas law, individuals found not guilty by reason of insanity can be committed to a mental health facility for treatment and supervision.

In some cases, that commitment can last for years or even a lifetime, depending on evaluations of the individual’s mental state and risk.

DeLeon said she has mixed feelings about what lies ahead. "I've heard that the mental hospital is a lot worse than jail, and so that kind of brings me some comfort," she said.

She also raised concerns about future outcomes. "

But then I hear he has the potential to have outpatient and that kind of scares me," DeLeon said.

"What if he gets out, and he's not saying and does it again, and then that's someone else's loved one no longer here?"

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Omondi is expected to be transferred to a state hospital as the case moves forward under the court’s ruling.

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